Why do we find it so hard to believe in miracles? They are actually all around us and yet we often fail to see them. Well, some of us at least. The thing about miracles is they are not always the awe-inspiring, gargantuan affairs of epic, biblical proportions that people expect them to be.

If you are expecting a fridge full of bottled water to suddenly turn into wine on the appearance of unexpected guests at the door, you are probably setting yourself up for disappointment. Oh no, miracles are often small, unassuming little affairs, but miracles nonetheless!

For instance, you are running late for an appointment and immediately find a parking space conveniently close to where you need to be, when usually you have to drive round for ages looking for one. Or, you lose your wedding ring and search high and low for it, eventually giving up all hope of ever finding it. It suddenly appears in a place you have looked in a dozen or so times. You are totally lost while out driving, take a turn and then find yourself right outside where you want to be. These things are all too often taken for granted because they are not huge miracles, just happenings that help you along.

Of course bigger miracles can and do take place. Someone coming out of a coma, just before the life support machine is about to be switched off. Someone else walks practically unscathed from the wreck of a car. These are the miracles many people would describe as real miracles and yet they are unaware of just how important the little miracles can be. And once you learn to accept these “happenings” for the miracles they are then bigger miracles often can and do follow. We just have to be open to receiving and acknowledging them.

One reason why people are not able to see small, everyday occurrences for the miracles that they truly are is that, in general, society’s expectations for bigger and better things has been growing rapidly over the past 25 years. Whereas in bygone eras people were taught to be happy with “their lot,” the dawn of Thatcherite Capitalist values has led to an explosion of consumer greed and the striving to attain a plethora of things we could never previously afford.

I am not for one moment suggesting here that we should endure aspects of our lives that are making us miserable. However, in buying into this consumer culture, we are merely being encouraged to use money we haven’t got to buy a multitude of goods that we don’t really need in the mistaken belief that it will bring us happiness.

This has led to an overall dissatisfaction with life as we are driven to keep up with others and in the process have lost sight of what we truly desire. We allow ourselves to be driven by our ego’s and are constantly in pursuit of a false happiness. We expect miracles, but yet are unable to see them for what they are.

Sometimes we are so fixed on the outcome to a certain situation that we fail to look at the bigger picture. If a solution to a problem doesn’t fit our expectations, we are immediately tempted to dismiss it.

A colleague of mine, who is a fellow healer, recently told me of a couple of experiences she has had during the course of her work. One involved sending distant healing to a very sick, quite elderly man in the hope of giving a miracle cure. A few weeks later he died, leaving her wondering why she hadn’t been able to successfully heal him. She began to question her life purpose, wondering why on earth she was sent people to heal if she ultimately couldn’t heal them.

On speaking to the man’s daughter-in-law some time later, my friend apologized profusely for not being able to help, expecting her to be very upset. However the woman hugged her and thanked her. Apparently for his whole life the patient had been a very difficult man, given to cruel verbal outbursts and extremely mean with his money.

In the weeks leading up to his death, while receiving the healing, he had suddenly undergone an amazing transformation of character. Not only had he made amends to various family and friends he had upset over the years, but he had also changed his will and left generous amounts of money to each of them. “It was a complete miracle” the woman told her.

Another client of hers had terminal cancer and she was giving him intensive distance healing to hopefully shrink the tumors and reverse the disease. This was a young man who at the time of receiving healing was unable to walk, or for the most part even sit up. Again, he died several weeks later.

As with her other client, my friend was devastated that she had been unable to help him. However, soon after his passing she received a letter from the man’s fiancée telling her that during the last few weeks he had actually been able to leave his bed on several occasions and enjoy days of near wellness that enabled them to spend precious, quality time together.

The fiancée was certain that without the healing he would have died much sooner and not be able to do any of these things. Another miracle. You see, it is our attachment to a result, our inability to be open to other possibilities that closes our minds to accepting miracles for what they are.

However, a miracle can come in disguise and not be revealed for what it is until some time after it has occurred. We may be in a job we actually hate and that bores us to death, but would never leave because it pays the bills and we have responsibilities. We are then made redundant, and, after worrying how we will make ends meet, a chance meeting leads us to a complete change of career that brings us real fulfillment and better money.

The miracle here is that without the redundancy we would probably have plodded along forever. Even if our hearts had told us to leave the job, our heads would have probably intervened and told us not to because logic and reasoning teamed with fear would have crept in and prevented us from following our true desire.

Social conditioning and fear have exacerbated over generations and the majority of us have become misguided by logic, reason, norms and values. We have quite simply lost our ability to ‘feel.’ In short, we have forgotten that we are in fact spiritual beings in physical bodies. And yet, if we could once more get in touch with our ‘feeling’ nature and think more with our hearts than our heads, we would soon be able to recognize every single miracle for what it is, however small, and enrich our lives in ways we never dreamed possible.

If only we could allow ourselves to trust our gut instincts more, we would have infinite sources of wisdom and fulfillment at our disposal and kick-start our most valuable and powerful tool of all; our higher self, our inner Angel, the supra-consciousness that binds us all to the eternal life force that flows from the universe and can bring us unlimited gifts and miracles. It just takes a little faith.

Of course, it is not always easy to have faith in something that is not tangible. Look at it this way though. Every time we go to sleep we are placing our faith in waking up the next morning. Whenever we go out of the house we have faith that we will return home safely again. If we can apply that same level of faith to accepting the spiritual element of our nature we would have the infinite power of the universe at our disposal.

I am tempted to add here that this isn’t exactly rocket science, but funnily enough, this isn’t quite true. Many scientists are now realizing that to acknowledge the scientific effect, one must also acknowledge the spiritual cause. In other words both quantum physics and meta-physics work in synergy to produce a cornucopia of endless possibilities.

There is no beginning and there is no end, so we can quite simply attract anything we want into our lives. All it takes is a shift in consciousness. The more people that open themselves up to a belief in miracles, the greater the number of miracles that will be experienced, and the bigger and better they will become. This in turn will raise the spiritual vibrations and help to bring about abundance both individually and collectively through the spiritual law of attraction, so the whole world will benefit. It truly is a case of believe and receive. And that is no small miracle.

About the Author

Jane Terry is a spiritual therapist, healer, life coach and counsellor as well as Angelic Reiki Practitioner. She runs workshops and courses to promote positive empowerment and teach how to attract and manifest abundance and miracles. More information about Jane and her work can be found on her website at themagicofangels.co.uk. Find her on twitter @angelmagic1.

We would like to share another great TED talk about how we experience our lives.
This one is with perhaps the world’s most influential living psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel in Economics for his pioneering work in behavioral economics.

Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate Kahneman reveals how our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy — and our own self-awareness.

Living an Awakened Life:An interview with Patrick Ryan, author of Awakened Wisdom: A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance

We are very excited to be the first stop of the virtual blog tour for Patrick Ryan’s upcoming book, Awakened Wisdom: A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance, to be launched on April 20th.
Following is a special interview with Patrick, whom I am grateful to for taking the time to indulge in our questions.Marion: What does it mean to live an awakened life?Patrick: Living an awakened life can look very different for each person. In its simplest form it asks us to be discerning in the choices we make and responsible for the impact of those choices. This starts from what food we choose to put into our bodies and goes right on through to bigger decisions that affect our relationships and careers.
Let’s break it down some. We have three important considerations to put attention to if we are to live an awakened life. They are the state of our heart, which includes emotions and relationships, our mind, which includes what we put our attention on including our thoughts and words, and our body, which includes taking care of our body as well as the physical things that we create in our lives such as our home.
We are making choices in every moment related to these three aspects of our being. We must be very aware of what it is we are choosing. So much of what we do is through habit. Habits become areas of unconsciousness because we stop thinking and we just do our habit.
One good practice is to notice your habits, even the one’s that seem so basic, and to ask your Self, “What other choice do you have other than the habitual one?” You might be surprised at how much your life can change from changing a few basic habits. That would be a good step forward in living an awakened life.Marion: What is your personal story? How did you end up as a Buddhist monk in Burma?Patrick: Before I became a Buddhist monk in Burma, I had never thought about Burma, I had never seen or been around any monk, and I certainly had no idea that I was embarking on such a path. The full story is in my first book, The Eagles’s Call. Here is the short version.
I had a very successful business as a real estate broker. It was the kind of business that most realtors dream of and very few ever achieve. I have been an entrepreneur all my life and creating small business’s to me is second nature.
One day I woke up and realized that I wanted to go off on a great adventure. I decided to put myself 100% into that adventure and so I gave away almost everything I owned and bought a one-way ticket to south-east Asia. I made a promise to my Self and to the Universe that I would follow the bouncing ball of intuition, guidance, and the direction of the wind.
That eventually led me to a monastery in Burma where I arrived unannounced. I expected to stay for a few days and then move on but as soon as I arrived, this magical series of events started happening that resulted in me becoming a Buddhist monk and then going off on a profound journey of discovery that was most unusual even by the standards of monks.
Though I thought that the entire trip would likely only last about six weeks I was on the road for eighteen months at that time. That took me through Burma, Nepal and India. During that time I received initiations and other blessings that continue to reveal themselves to me to this very day.Marion: In your book you suggest that there are eight states of an awakened life. Could you briefly describe them?Patrick: Sure. In brief, here they are.
A Good State of Intention – This is the causal level of what we are creating in our lives. We are in this amazing dance with the Universe and each of us is such a powerful creator of our life and the world we are in. Most of us are unconscious about what we are really asking for and creating.
A Good State of Words – This is the power that our words have on what happens on our life. Every word we speak is like a spell of creation. Every word goes out, is heard, and the world responds according to our speaking.
A Good State of Being – In a Good State of Being we must consider the state of all our relationships. That begins with our relationship to our Self, our loved ones, our careers and on and on. We created the quality of all or these relationships and we must be responsible to them.
A Good State of Purpose – Now we are considering the purpose that we are living into during this life. Imagine that every one of us is playing a part in what is going on every day on this planet. We each have a part to play and it helps to know more about that and the impact that we are having.
A Good State of Effort – Each day we go around doing things. In this state we consider the quality of the experience that we are creating and the amount of effort that we are putting in. This is the balance between trying too hard or not hard enough.
A Good State of Practice – We all benefit from having good practices in our life that take care of our mind, body, heart, and associated things. We are well advised to create practices that provide for our well being and care.
A Good State of Doing – As humans we got to go out a do a lot of stuff. The quality of the experience while we do what we do and the act of choosing well with regards to the actions that we take is important to consider.
A Good State of Understanding – Here we take a look at what are the operating principles of the Universe that we all live in. Everybody would benefit from taking a look at what their beliefs and experience are regarding these principles.
In the book Awakened Wisdom: A guide to reclaiming Your Brilliance, I go through all eight of these states and share a lot of ideas about what I have found to be so.Marion: Why is your new book so important right now?Patrick: This is a very interesting time on the planet. As things change with the rapid pace that they are, we all have to be clear about how to navigate forward in a good way. This book will show people some very important ways to navigate according to your own wisdom. We have got to stop following the crowd and think and feel things through according to our own wisdom rather than what the media would have us do.Marion: Your website is http://www.AwakenedWisdom.com What will we find there? Why would I want to go to it?Patrick: Awakened Wisdom Experiences is a growing repository of collected ideas and wisdom from a variety of sources. I am going to keep it current and vibrant and I would like it to be source of great ideas and suggestions for you so that you can learn more about living your own great awakened life.
Check out my latest book, Awakened Wisdom: A guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance. http://ow.ly/1kB3m I am sure that you will find it to be a great resource that will support you in living your life to the fullest extent possible.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to share these ideas.

Patrick, It’s a pleasure to have you blogging with us. Thanks for sharing!

Patrick’s Blog tour continues tomorrow with Schall Adams at http://www.mygirlfriendmentors.com/blog There, Patrick will share how to use the Eight States of Awakened Life to move from a distorted way of being, into a state of “Divine Essence”.

How can you create a life well-lived? Get Patrick’s new book on April 20th and find out. To receive updates in regards to the official Amazon book launch on April 20th, please visit http://ow.ly/1kB3m

Creating Discipline for Sport Performance
Whether you are a serious athlete or a weekend warrior these tips are helpful to increase focus and help you perform to the best of your capabilities.

Create discipline through centering:

1. Four rounds of Rhythmic breathing can help both lower your blood pressure and bring you to a state of calm before you begin play or whenever you feel overwhelmed, anxious or stressed during the game.
Think of your breathing pattern as if it were a box or square drawn on a piece of paper with the breathing in being the left upward drawn line, holding your in-breath as the line on the top of the square from left to right, breathing out as the line going downward on the right side, and then the holding of the out-breath being the line from right to left on the bottom side of the square.

You slowly count the length of your breath going in, being held, or going out that is right for you. The length of your in-breath and out-breath should be the same count; just as the length of the held breath at top and bottom should be the same number of counts. As you practice your breathing, you might find that your square is actually a rectangle. Each person may find they have a different count from another person; and that is fine as we are all unique individuals. Just make certain that you are not strained in your breathing in or out or with the breath holds at top or bottom; if you find you are strained, then change the length of your counts for different sides of your box of breathing.
Once you find the pattern of your square or rectangular box that works best for you, go through 4 to 5 complete rounds of the rhythmic breathing and notice how your body and mind respond.

2. A daily practice of meditation, yoga or a martial art has long been recognized for increasing focus including Tai Chi and Chi Gong.

3. Light a candle, focus on the the tip of the flame and be mindfully aware of what you see, sense or feel as you look into it and with a continuous stream of expression say out loud whatever it is that you see. As soon as you pause or repeat yourself you must to start over. Try to work up to a continuous expression of what you see for 2 minutes . Use a timer or do this exercise with a partner. This may seem like a silly exercise but it helps create intense focus and concentration .

4. Use a Sport Link or a similar focus trainer. Use the program for sports performance for 20 minutes a day or before you run. This is a great tool which has improved the game of many a pro and Olympic athlete in all fields.

5. Visualization of your goal. See yourself reaching your goal and feeling wonderful about it and with 2 fingers gently tap this vision into your 3rd eye ( between the eyebrows) a few times a day and before you compete. This only works if you are free from the killer issues that are blocking you – see next technique.

6. EFT tapping on your acupoints for lack of discipline, nervousness, anxiety, muscle tension, fear or failure or whatever your issue.
This tool is used to prepare yourself ahead of time and to use whether you are competing or just interested in adding more pleasure and satisfaction to your game. This will relieve the stressors and problems you have identified which are inhibiting you from maximum performance. See our book Shift:12 Keys to Shift Your Life for a more in depth explanation of the technique.
We have both had enormous success using EFT with patients. I often use it both for my own golf game and when I am coaching on the golf course. For more information on EFT, opt in to our website at www.12keystoshift.com and you can view our EFT demo video.

Tracy is an Integrative Psychiatrist and Medical Intuitive with over 18 years of clinical experience in shifting lives. Marion holds doctorates in Holistic Healing, Metaphysics, and Transpersonal Psychology with successful practices in Paris, France and New York City. Over the past 7 years, they have taught classes and seminars in personal transformation. Now they have come together to assist women with transforming guilt/shame, anger/resentment, disappointment/heartache, stress, fear/anxiety, lack of self-love, & grief/loss, and reacquainting women with their True Essence (who they really are) – which is essential to understanding what holds each of us back and causes us to feel stuck.

On Tuesday’s show, they will be revealing some of the secrets from their book Shift, including 12 essential and practical keys to transforming your life. They will also give listeners a link where they can receive thousands of dollars worth of free self-help products and services, just by buying the book Shift this week during the grand launch.

As usual, Lynn will be reading her “Garden of the Soul Meditation” for the week.

Listeners can listen LIVE or “on demand” any time after broadcast at

***NOTE: You can also Tweet or post this show to Facebook directly from this link**

Date / Time: 8/30/2009 6:00 PM
JOURNEY with Susie Bonham-Craig and special featured guests, MARION ROSS Mh.D. Ph.D and TRACY LATZ M.D.,M.S. in PART 1 of our NEW AUTHOR SERIES. Marion & Tracy are co-authors of the book “SHIFT – A Women’s Guide to Transformation”

Tracy Latz, M.D., M.S. is an Integrative Psychiatrist, Medical Intuitive with over 18 years of clinical experience in shifting lives. Marion Ross, Ph.D. holds doctorates in Holistic Healing, Metaphysics, and Transpersonal Psychology with successful practices in Paris, France and New York City.
Why exactly did a psychiatrist and an international business entrepreneur get together to write this book? Both Marion and Tracy felt there was a need to create a book that would assist others who also felt stuck in their lives. During their years of training, they learned that we create powerfully every day with our thoughts and feelings. We create obstacles in our lives when we are unaware. They wanted to assist others with learning what they know. Once you understand these age old, easy to incorporate concepts, you will realize how extremely important it is to identify and cull out negative thoughts and transform feelings of anger, resentment, fear and anxiety that limit your ability to create joy and peace. Whenever you experience disappointment, stress, betrayal, grief, loss, or heartbreak from your life experiences, you are at risk of forming such limiting thoughts.
It is time to step out of the box you have created over and over and paint a new canvas of your life. Tracy & Marion are ready to “Shift Your Life Now!” Are You Ready?
CALL IN on 718-305-6584

Tracy & Marion will appear on the Facing Magic in Midlife show with Kat Tansey & Nancy Marriott on Exceptional Wisdom Radio at 6pm Eastern Time on Thursday August 27th, 2009. We will be talking about our new book: Shift: A Woman’s Guide To Transformation